American Anglican Council on Lambeth

From the AAC website:

August 21, 2008

Executive Summary

1) Before it began, the 2008 Lambeth Conference was designed to not have any resolutions or votes. The conference was centered on dialogue. While bishops discussed important matters, no formal conclusions, resolutions, or positions were produced by the conference. Instead, organizers developed reflection and observation documents that merely illustrated what the bishops discussed.

2) Archbishop Rowan Williams gave three main addresses at the conference. In them, he advocated for a communion covenant and urged the bishops to seek what he called true Christian unity. The Archbishop also set out an agenda that, among other items, included: a) Calling a Primates meeting in early 2009. b) Seeking detail on a proposed pastoral forum. This forum is similar to those called for by the Dar Es Salaam Communiqué and Windsor Report. c) Building bridges with the GAFCON primates. d) Continuing the development of the Covenant which is expected to be finalized and sent to the provinces after the ACC meeting in May, 2009.

3) Other than the bishops, there were three main groups contributing to the Lambeth Conference. a) Windsor Continuation Group – Appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, this group brought few original ideas to the conference. The WCG reaffirmed all three moratoria recommended by the Windsor Report and clarified that the moratorium on same-sex blessings included all celebrations and not just the creation of official liturgies. Their observations document did call for a faith and order commission that, if implemented, would be a fifth instrument of communion. b) Listening Group – Made up of 16 bishops from the conference, this group created a ―narrative that described the discussions and thoughts of the bishops at Lambeth. The reflections document was not put before the conference for a vote of approval. c) Covenant Design Group – This group met during two days of the conference and held hearings at which bishops gave input and commentary on the Covenant design process and current draft. The group did not make a revision to the current St. Andrew‘s draft but is expected to meet in September of 2009.

4) The Episcopal Church was highly invested in shaping the conference‘s outcome and media coverage. TEC urged its bishops to publically minimize the conflict and disunity in the Communion and instead focus on the church working together in mission as the key means of unity. Additionally, in their indaba groups some TEC bishops misrepresented the facts surrounding litigation in the U.S., falsely claiming TEC was the defendant in the many lawsuits that have been filed against former TEC churches.

5) In remarks after the conclusion of Lambeth, Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada leadership and LGBT advocates are claiming they will not stop their advance toward full inclusion.